Posted on: Monday, April 15, 2002

Paperwork piling up despite reduction act

By Amy Strahan Butler
Bloomberg News Service

WASHINGTON — Federal paperwork has increased 9 percent since Congress passed the Paperwork Reduction Act in 1995, according to the General Accounting Office.

"Much of the information gathered in this paperwork is important," said Rep. Doug Ose, a California Republican who led a subcommittee hearing on the issue. "However, much is duplicative and unnecessarily burdensome."

Businesses bear the brunt of government paperwork; two-thirds of forms and filings are for businesses, according to the report by the GAO.

The Office of Management and Budget estimates that federal paperwork costs the public $230 billion a year, Ose said.

The agency estimates that 95 percent of the paperwork, measured in "burden hours," consists of regulatory filings. Roughly 5 percent of the paperwork is for applications for government benefits.

The Internal Revenue Service generates 83 percent of federal paperwork, the GAO said.

IRS Commissioner Charles Rossotti blamed complicated tax laws for the excessive paperwork.

"Multiple definitions of terms such as a 'qualifying child,' contribute to endless hours spent trying to fill out forms," he said. "Complexity is not only frustrating and time consuming for taxpayers, it is a drag on the economy."